Maybe
by AngelOfContemplation
Summary: What if Harry, once he'd calmed down, had seen something else in Snape the night he killed Dumbledore? this is my attempt to answer that question. Read and enjoy.


A/N: This was.... an idea that popped into my head after watching the Half Blood Prince. I saw something in it that intrigued me far too much for my plot bunny filled mind to do more than allow my fingers to touch the keyboard and run wild. Please excuse any mistakes, it was a spontaneous kind of thing, and i do tend to make many punctuational errors when I write.

Warnings: A few, thought not many, dirty words here and there... just minor curses. Oh and a hint of a m/m relationship in th end. not much of one at all, but it's there. So don't like, don't read okies?

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the world he exists in, my plot bunnies merely borrow them now and then, sometimes even against my will. But hey, those are plot bunnies for ya. ^_^ enjoy.

* * *

I was angry, so angry. He'd trusted the man more than anyone else. Trusted him, took him under his wing, and protected him. And yet, with one _Avada Kedavra_, Albus Dumbledore was dead.

It was only after I'd gotten over my anger and grief that I realized more than one very important thing. First off, Dumbledore asked Severus to do something for him. What it was exactly, I had no clue. Second, Severus Snape did not attack me when I recklessly provoked him into it. Third, and most important in my eyes, the git saved my arse once again when he told Bellatrix that I belonged to the Dark Lord.

Why, if he hated me and was a traitor, did he not truly act like it? And why was he so trusted, even to the moment he said that bloody curse? Why trust someone if you think they might betray you? And why did it seem that Albus was, dare I say it, happy to hear that particular curse come from those thin lips?

Why is it that even though everyone else hated Snape for what he did, I sort of.... understood his reasons? None of them had seen the effects of that potion, what it did to Albus, but I had. And the ring he'd tried on... the one that blackened his hand. Snape saved him from dying of the curse on the ring, but he'd only been able to slow the effects of the curse.

Dying by a curse, by the potion I was forced to make him drink, or by the curse that Severus was forced by his oath... Oh yes, the unbreakable oath, maybe he did it because of that bloody oath. Draco wasn't going to be able to do his job, so Severus did it for him. And Albus, well, Albus always seemed to know everything and if Severus trusted Albus as much as he himself was trusted; then the old man was up to date about everything.

So he chose the most painless way to go, and Severus Snape did his best to keep me from making a complete and utter fool of myself, moreso than I'd already done that horrible night. I did not understand the man, he was too much of a puzzle, a conundrum, to ever fully understand. Although, the same, I suppose, could be said about myself. Half Slytherin, and half Gryffindor, who was I to say that he's complicated without saying the same of myself?

I knew one very important fact about the dour man who'd saved my life more times than I care to count; he was not a man who would turn his back on a friend he trusted. He was also not a man who would kill a man he saw as a father figure without having been told to do so by said man. Severus Snape was many things, but an evil man he was not.

That is why I took this leap of faith when I recieved a missive from Severus. That is the reason I agreed to meet with him in Hogsmead a few weeks ago, and that was why I made an unbeakable vow, gave him my oath, that he would forever be under my protection. It was something I found myself readily able to agree to for his own sake. I would keep him safe from anything, everything, anybody, and everybody.

But I wondered why it was so damn important to me that I keep him safe. I wanted to protect this man more than any other, even my honorary godfather Remus, who was infinitely dear to me. Was Severus just as dear to me? I did not know, could not answer my own question. Maybe he was , and maybe he wasn't.

I could be sure of one more little nugget of truth though.... The man, snarky as he can be, made one helluva lover, and I loved everything he did to me when I let him get his hands on me. It was a good job that I trusted the man with my life, as he'd trusted his own to me; otherwise, we'd have never gotten this far.

I have a very good feeling about the upcoming battle. together, yes together, we would end Voldemort's reign of terror. Maybe then I could convince Severus to let me protect him in a more beautiful and romantic location?

* * *

A/N: And yes, the ending was as much of a surprise to me as the beginning. Again, I blame the plot bunnies who held me hostage and refused to leave until my fingers went wild on me... crazy lil critters they are, anyway.... leave a comment if you like, tell me what you think. Good or bad, I don't mind, just... constructive comments help me in my quest to be a better writer. I am still learning, after all.


End file.
